Back to the future
by PIXchAR
Summary: It's the year 2025, a lot of things have changed on Drovers run, Jodi and Matt, build up there lives there, Charlotte recently returned and Tess and Nick are planning there return as well...
1. Back to the future

This is the year 2025, a lot of things have changed on Drovers Run the past 15 years.  
Regan got married and lives on a farm at the other side of Gungellan.  
Grace returned to her hometown and Jas lives near the city with her family.

Jodi and Matt had returned to Drovers, to run the place and to settle down. They have two daughters, Gloria and Emily.  
Stevie lives on Killany with Xander, they run the place together.  
Patrick and Taylor got married, they have a son David and there's another child on the way.  
They live on Wilgul, the place they can now call their own. Taylor became a vet, and runs a practice in the neighborhood.

But there are even more changes on the way, Charlotte just returned to Drovers and is thinking about staying there permanently.  
Tess and Nick are planning their return as well, but their children are not very supportive.  
They all have there on plans to do with the place, but since they are all still family they have to find a way to make things work.


	2. On the loose

On the loose

Charlotte had arrived on Drovers Run just one week ago. She was staying at the cottage for now, but some changes had to be made. In a few days Tess, Nick and their two children Claire and Jackson would arrive. They were planning on staying so there had to be made some changes to the sleeping arrangements. But that wasn't something she had to worry about, she just wanted to make sure all the work was done in time for their arrival.

Charlotte started her daily chores, checking the fences, feeding the dog and brushing the horses. Jodi came up to her with some lunch.  
"Hey, Charlotte, I made you some sandwiches."  
"Oh, thanks, I'm starving"  
"That's what I thought" said Jodi smiling. "Could you do me a favor  
"Sure what is it?" Charlotte wasn't really sure she would like the favor.  
"Gloria and Emily are back from school for two days now, they remind me of me when I was young, which isn't a good thing. Can you make them help a bit around here?"  
"Sure, I'll try but I can't promise anything"  
"Great, and while you're at it, see if you can make them tell their grades, they won't tell me."  
"No problem, I'll get to it"

Xander arrived on Drovers, looking a bit worried.  
"Hey, Charlotte, I could really use your help right now. One of my horses broke loose and really need to find them before the brumbies do!"  
Charlotte looked sideways to Jodi, she stil had a lot of work to do. "I'm sorry, I really …"  
"Go, I've got everything under control here" Jodi said, while taking over Charlotte's brush.  
"That's settled then, I'll see you at Killany in an hour"  
Xander drove off and Charlotte started to prepare her horse.

"Where do we start, those horses could be anywhere!"  
"Lets go to the national park, the brumbies are last seen around there, I want to make sure we find them first."  
"Don't worry, we'll find him, it's not that big of a deal."  
"But it is, it's Wildfire! He might be getting a bit old and cranky, he's still pretty stubborn. He was my dad's horse, I really don't want to lose him."  
"I know what you mean, I would die if anything would happen to Phoenix."

Charlotte and Xander have been ridding for hours now, they haven't found anything jet and they are starting to get worried.  
"This is hopeless, it's starting to get dark, and soon we won't see a thing. I'm giving up."  
"Come on, we'll search for another hour, then we can go home, you can't just give up."

After fifteen more minutes wondering past the creek they saw something move behind the bushes at the other side…  
"You go from the left, I'll take the right" Xander whispered.  
Charlotte and Xander road through the water, hoping they wouldn't spoke the horses.  
It was Wildfire, but he wasn't alone, there was a brumby with him, probably the leading mare.  
"This could get dangerous!" Charlotte whispered, "I'll drive the mare away, you catch Wildfire."

Charlotte tried to get the mare away from Wildfire, it was harder then she thought. After three attempts she finely managed to get the mare away. But the mare tried to spoke Charlotte's horse, and she fell off. In the main time Xander could catch Wildfire but he almost let him go again when he saw Charlotte fall. Xander jumped of his horse, tied Wildfire to a tree and ran to Charlotte to help. It wasn't that bad, she just had a twisted ankle, but her horse ran away.  
"Come on, lets get you on your feet, I'll take you home" Xander picked Charlotte up and carried her to his horse. He jumped right behind her, toke Wildfire and returned to Drovers.

"You know you didn't have to do this, I can still ride a horse, you could have taken Wildfire and I could take your horse, I would return it in the morning."  
"Sure you could, you can't even stand on your feet, I told you I would get you home so I did. Now you have the chose, either I carry you insight or you hop over there yourself."  
"The hopping is just fine by me, thank you but you can go now."  
Charlotte started hopping towards the house, but after two meter her leg couldn't hold it anymore. Xander was just in time to catch her.  
"Let me take you into the house, before you kill yourself trying to do everything on your own."

Xander entered the house, Jodi and Matt where watching tv in the living room. Xander putted Charlotte on a chair in the kitchen, Jodi and Matt came in to help.  
"Oh, this doesn't look to good, it's all swollen. I'll get you some ice." Jodi took some ice from the freezer and a towel to put on the ankle.  
"I'll put a bandage around it" said Matt "but you won't be able to walk for a few days.  
"In that case, I'll come and see you tomorrow, so someone can make sure you really sit. The time will pass faster in good company."


	3. Family reunion

Family reunion

A few days have passed since Charlotte twisted her ankle. She was ready to go back to work. There was quite a lot to do today. Tess, Nick, Claire and Jackson would arrive the next day. Since nobody planned on doing anything the next day, everything had to be done today.

"Ok, this is the plan," Jodi said, "Charlotte, now that you're back on your feet you can check the fences. The cattle needs to be moved from Skinny Jim's to Little Regrette, Gloria and Emily will help you with that."  
Gloria and Emily where obviously not happy with that announcement. But the idea that they might get more free time when Nick and Tess return, made them help around more these days.  
"The sooner the cattle is moved, the sooner everyone can help with the party. There still is a lot to do." Jodi putted a to-do-list on the fridge. "I'm going to get all the supplies. Matt, can you fix the roof of the sheering sheds? And make sure there's warm water too!"  
"Sure, I'll get the equipment." Matt kissed Jodi on the cheek and left.  
"We'll better get to it as well, com on Gloria, Em, work to do!" Charlotte took her hat and left the kitchen, followed by Gloria and Emily.

It was just past noon when Charlotte, Gloria and Emily finished their chores. They were on their way home to help prepare the party.  
"You know you'll probably have to move out of the cottage when everyone arrives." Gloria tried to find out if Charlotte knew anything about the new sleeping arrangements…  
"Could be, or you and Em may have to share a room"  
"What, no way!" Emily wasn't planning to make any sacrifices for her family.  
"But it would make sense, when you two are at school most of the year, now one uses your bedroom then." Charlotte, couldn't help but smile when she saw the faces of the two girl, shocked, unable to speak.  
"Oh, don't worry" Jodi said after picking up on their conversation. "You can all stay where you are right now. Tess and Nick get Tess' old room, and Claire and Jackson can stay in the sheering sheds, Matt is fixing them up." The girl were obviously relieved.  
"And if not, there's another room left in the cottage. Maybe Claire would like to stay there with me. I don't know her that well jet, but we might get along." Charlotte was hoping that with the arrival of Claire and Jackson she would get two friends closer to her own age. She knew she could always turn to Jodi, Matt of Stevie, but that's not really the same thing.

They worked the rest of the day on getting the rooms ready and cleaning the house. They decorated the whole house and made sure everything was ready for the party. The next morning, everyone got up early to do the finishing touches.

"Ok, here's the plan: Charlotte, you give everyone a warm welcome, Xander will arrive soon to help Matt with the barbeque" Jodi said "I will pick Tess, Nick, Claire and Jackson up from the airport with Stevie, Emily and Gloria you're responsible for the drinks. Now, where is Stevie, we have to leave soon…"  
"Who's all coming?" Charlotte wondered.  
" Everyone from the neighborhood, Regan with her family, Taylor and Patrick, my mom and Harrison said he might be here, but he wasn't sure yet. There might come some other people as well, but we have plenty of food so that's just fine."  
"Hey you guys," Stevie and Xander had just arrived "nice to see you all. Jodi, I'm sorry I'm a bit late, but we really have to leave now."

While Jodi and Stevie were driving to the airport, the rest of the guest arrived at Drovers. It was a great party and everyone was excited to see their long lost family again. Shorty after noon Jodi and Stevie arrived. Tess, Nick, Claire and Jackson didn't except that many people, they were a bit tired of the long trip, but happy to be finally home again.  
"BOM! Oh I missed you so much, I love being home again." Charlotte had never seen Tess so excited before. "It's great to be home!"  
"Hey, antie Tess, I'm glad you're back. You know it has been almost two years since I last saw you? When I came to visit you all." Charlotte finely felt like she was home, now she was really sure she would stay here, probably for the rest of her life. She had everything she needed, her whole family, friends, and the most beautiful piece of land in the world.  
"Hey Charlotte, great to see you again, you know I didn't really want to come here, but now I'm glad I did." Claire had only been on Drovers twice when she was a little girl; she didn't remember much of it. But now, she immediately felt at home.

The party lasted till the evening, but Tess and Nick got a bit of a jetlag and went to bed early. Claire, Charlotte, Xander and Jackson went for a late night ride. They immediately felt a connection en knew they would get along just fine…


End file.
